I nodded, "Thanks," I told him grateful that I knew the kids were safe.
"So do you want to walk me through what happened this afternoon?" he asked me placing a voice recorder on the table. "Do you mind?"
I nodded, "Please, I would prefer this a casual chat off the record. I am happy to tell you what happened, but if you want to record, I will need to say the 'L' word and I would prefer to keep this friendly.
He sat back and eyed me for a moment, "Fair enough, casual for now. So, tell me Brian, what happened?"
He put the recorder back in his pocket and I took a deep breath, blew it out and gathered my thoughts.
[:::: 16 ::::]
Since that fateful day in New Farm Park, my life had turned around. I was no longer a walking advertisement for depression caused by the horrific scars all over my body; scars caused by saving my sister from a fire when I was young. Indeed, from the day that Betty Brown, more commonly known by the world as Lurandra, supermodel, I had come out of my shell.
We were engaged and not only that, but we were also in the process of adopting twins. They were two amazing kids, that like me had been burnt in a house fire in which they had lost the rest of their family. Tim and Sonia would legally become our children once Betty and I were married in a few weeks' time. Due to Betty's fame, we had been regularly meeting with a trusted reporter, Andrew, who would interview Betty, Tim, Sonia and myself over the next few days to make the next release of formal announcements around our impending marriage and their adoptions.
I had been through a bit of a media frenzy once, the day that Lurandra kissed me in front of thousands of people, but that had settled down a while ago replaced by a background buzz regarding our relationship. It was known that she was dating me, but the public would not know how serious it was until Andrew released the articles. Betty kept her engagement ring in a box on the dresser in our bedroom except when we were in our home.
It was a bright Saturday morning, Betty had headed to the airport to pick up Andrew, while Tim, Sonia and myself set up at a table out of the way in the beautiful gardens within New Farm Park. We felt it was the right place to do the interview since this is where everything had started.
After laying everything out and sitting down, Tim and Sonia were happily telling me about all the things they were looking to do as a family: Holidays to the beach; Holidays to Disneyland; friends they wanted to meet; the pets they wanted us to buy; the movies they wanted to watch and of course what was their favourite brand of chocolate was, and lollies should be in the house at all times.
Since being released into our care, both kids had flourished, Tim, who was less scarred than his twin, was always helping Sonia. Like me she had burn scars over more than fifty percent of her body including part of her face. She was still rather frail but getting stronger all the time.
On the table we had laid out sandwiches for the kids, party pies and sausage rolls, hot from an oven bag. There was juice, water and soft drinks. And both kids were eyeing off the block of chocolate for later. I had just gotten a text message from Betty that her and Andrew were parking and would be a few minutes away when everything kind of happened.
Tim and Sonia were trying to be very helpful, and there was no warning, but Sonia looked up and suddenly screamed. Her voice carried, the panic in her expression conveyed across the broad meadow of the park we were sitting in. The cause of her scream was apparent even as it was loosed from her lungs, and I started to turn in the direction that she and now Tim were looking.
But before I could move more than a few inches, a large and hairy arm went around my neck and before I could react started dragging me backwards. I am quite burly and strong myself, so without thinking, my hands went to the arm to release the chokehold.
His assistants were ready though, and as the first guy released me, the other two grabbed my shoulders and forced me to my knees.
"Aww, look at that," a voice that I had not heard from quite some time said mockingly. "Crispy has gone and found some mini versions of himself."
My eyes narrowed to focus on the form of Brian DuMont, now standing a half dozen paces away from me. He had three other men with him, all greasy looking, dark hair, scraggly beards and eyes and facial features similar to his own. The two holding me, were standing on my calves while I was on my knees and holding my body taut, but with some effort I could turn my head to see Tim and Sonia. They were trying bravely to stifle cries while being held by the fourth guy. I did not like the lecherous look on his face.
I turned back to DuMont. "What do you want?" I sneered at my longtime nemesis.
"Blood," he said immediately. "You got me arrested, and now I'm going to take it out on your hide before you go to the cops. You're going to write a statement, something those pricks called police here can submit to the pigs back home dropping the charges against me. My family had to sneak me out of the country and you're going to sort it out for me or pay dearly for fucking me over Crispy.
"Get lost DuMont," I spat. "I had nothing to do with it, that was all your fault. No, is my simple answer. Now, let me up, let us go and back off now before I get upset."
DuMont barked a laugh and sneered at me. "You don't get it Crispy," he said and nodded. Suddenly I was jabbed in the back with a fist and Sonia cried out again before she suddenly went quiet. I winced and looked over; the leech had his hand over her mouth. I glared at the poor excuse for a human being holding her.
"If you don't do exactly as I say, my cousins and I are going to hurt all three of you, hurt you badly. I get it that you might not care about yourself, God knows no one else does. But what about your young friends here.
"We're going to tell the police..." was all Tim said before the leech backhanded Tim.
"Shut your mouth," the guy said in a thick French accent.
The other two holding me, had to jab me in the kidney's three times before I settled down. Once they had me pinned again, DuMont strode forward and slapped me. I spat the blood from my lip a second later and settled all of my hate, all of my rage into glaring at the poor excuse for a man in front of me.
"Weak as piss, DuMont," I said a moment later. "You hit like a girl." I wanted to scream and swear at him, but that would just cause the kids to panic and too much foul language was not something they needed to hear from me.
He stepped forward and slapped me again, his palm echoing against my cheek. "You freak," DuMont spat, angry that I had not just acquiesced like I had so many times in the past to him. "You think you can insult me?"
"Too right," I replied before he could say anything. "It's taking everything your two gorillas have just to hold me in place. And let me tell you, if anything, and I do mean anything happens to either of my two friends," I smiled darkly. "Then there will not be enough strength in any of you to stop me from tearing you limb from limb and using you're severed limbs to beat you all to death, you get me, DuMont?"
For a moment, DuMont's visage dropped and showed that the little prick was scared shitless. If it wasn't for the other three guys, I already would have finished him. I wasn't a fighter, but I was three times the size of the little French fuckwitt. I most likely could have gotten out of his two compatriot's holding me and likely have done some damage if it weren't for the guy with the kids.
DuMont put his mask back on. "Then do what I say, and no harm will come to them," he tried to tell me, but I didn't believe him for a second.
I shook my head, "It won't make any difference Brian," I said using the name we shared. "You know that anything I say doesn't mean a thing in a French court. Besides, the charges were not from me, they came from Lurandra."
He sneered again and lent in close to me. I could smell the cigarettes on his breath. "Yeah, how does it feel Crispy?" he told me. "Once again, I got to fuck the girl you were interested in, and my God, she was super in every way. I rocked Lurandra's world and I'm still deciding if I'll go back for a second helping. When she lands back in Australia, we can hook up. Who knows with a pretty little thing like her. Perhaps now I've taken her from you, I'll settle down with her and fuck a few kids into her."
